1) Explain the new

relationships between church

and emperor in the East and
West in the fourth and fifth
centuries.
Explain the new relationships between church and emperor in the East and West in the fourth and fifth
centuries. (Lesson 6)

To go back in time a little, in the early fourth century, emperors liked to be seen as God on earth,
like emperor Eusebius for example. In the second part of the 4th century in revenge, that was no
longer the point of view of Constantine, who was in agreement with Christianity, and since then,
church leaders were in disagreement with emperor thinking that way. Although, there was some
sort of expectation that the church was to be subordinate to the state, therefore it was a harmony
between church and state.
In the 5th century, the Roman Empire was divided into the West and East. The Western empire
was left without emperor, therefore the Bishop (aka Pope) felt obliged to take responsibility.
From this situation, the theory of the 2 powers was developed: the Pope became the head of the
church as well as the head of the state the throne and the altar. In the Eastern Empire
(Bezantine empire), in contrast, was based on the model of symphonia, or harmony. By that, it
is meant that there was a great collaboration between the emperor and the bishop, thing that did
not happened in the West. A problem in the Bezantine empire was that the two powers were
mixed a lot, therefore leading to a submission of the church to the state.
n the Roman Empire there was freedom of religion with the exception of Christianity. The
Roman religion was very complex because of the traditions and elements it borrowed from other
sources. In the Roman world Christianity was seen as a sect that sprung out of Judaism and was
looked down upon. This religion was seen as being disloyal to the state and having turned away
form the recognized God. As a result Christians were accused of being atheists, dangerous,
performing acts of cannibalism, murder, incest, and magic. They were also part of an antisocial
group because of neglecting certain gods and ceremonies. As a result there were many major
persecutions which caused many issues even after the persecutions were finished. One issue was
how Christians were supposed to collaborate with the persecutors. Some consequences of the
persecutions were destruction of churches, confiscation of property, prohibition of worship,
arrests, and cancellation of legal and civil rights.With the help of Constantine and his sympathy
toward Christianity the religion started to become tolerated and eventually fully legalized.
Christians began to have access to positions with the government, money and support was given
to churches, and as a whole Christianity became an establishment. Constantine did so by granting
universal religious freedom after he had a vision of a cross that made clear to him his personal
mission to convert the Roman Empire to Christianity.Once Christianity became legalized there

was a continuing conflict between church and emperor both in the east and the west in terms of
power. In the west there was the theory of the two powers: Throne and Alter. There was the
worldly power that was guided by the emperor and the heavenly power that was guided by the
bishops. It was required that the bishops and the emperor work together for the good of the
society. However, in the case of the west this did not happen. The two powers were separated.
The bishop and the pope went against the emperor and there were many quarrels such as the
decision of who was suppose to appoint the new bishop. The emperor believed he was the one
with the ultimate power while the pope believed he was the power of the church therefore it
being his decision. In the fifth century barbarian groups that took over attacked the western
territory of Rome. In the east there was a better relationship between the two powers much
stronger than that of the west. An example of this still exists today and is that of the Vatican. The
pope to this day is still the political ruler in Vatican City. The model in the east is the model of
harmony. The emperor and patriarch mixed and there was a submission of the church to the state.
Therefore there was still a little bit of separation between the two.

2) Explain the notion of

original sin in Augustine of
Hippo and its relationship
with the human free will.
Saint Augustine, was one of the foremost philosopher-theologians of early Christianity and,
while serving (396-430) as bishop of Hippo Regius, the leading figure in the church of North
Africa. He had a profound influence on the subsequent development of Western thought and
culture and, more than any other person, shaped the themes and defined the problems that have
characterized the Western tradition of Christian Theology. Among his many writings considered
classics, the two most celebrated are his semiautobiographical Confessions, which contains
elements of Mysticism, and City of God, a Christian vision of history. Augustine believed that
original sin manifested itself in sexual desire. His attitude towards sex was not unusual for his
time: Augustine lived in an ascetic age, where the sensitive man alreadyfelt humiliated by his
body and where his clerical readers would have been increasingly celibate Augustine believed
sin originated with free will, which is a created good Free will implies the ability to do evil. It is
a voluntary noncompulsory self-determined act. Augustine appears to have later contradicted this
view when he concluded that Donatists could be forced to believe against their will. With the fall
man lost the ability to do good without God's grace, yet he retains the ability of free choice to
accept God's grace. True freedom, however, is not the ability to sin but the ability to do good
which only the redeemed have.Augustine lived in a society where many religious philosophies
related the body to evil; his struggles with his own desires left him fascinated and perplexed with
the concept of evil. He strove to reconcile his own shortcomings with the immaculate perfection
of God and Gods creationAugustine eventually developed the theory that all humans are
inherently evil because of Adams sin, which is transmitted through semen; no one is good, and
we do not have free will because we are trapped in sin.Humans become evil, then, at the moment
of conception; no one is innocent, not even infants, their sin evident in their ability to act
selfishly or jealously. Original sin proved compatible with other theological ideas, such as the
virgin birth; if sin is transmitted through semen during conception, then all humans are
implicated except for Christ.
Initial Reactions to Original Sin
Although it was initially contested, the notion of original sin soon became widely accepted. It
may seem puzzling to outsiders why people would voluntarily accept such a negative,
condemning idea.Some Christians of the time did disagree; they found the concept of original sin
contrary to foundational beliefs such as the goodness of creation and the human freedom.In
Augustines time, however, many people lived in a mentality of dependence, so Augustines
explanation fit perfectly with society's outlook. Original sin also provides an answer to
theodicy.Original sin does not ease suffering, but for Christians, it proposes an answer as to why
humans must suffer; as Pagels explains, perhaps people would rather feel guilty than helpless
(146). Emperors would also have supported the idea of original sin, since it reinforced their

power;because man, a fallen creature, could not control himself, he needed more than purely
spiritual pressures to keep him from evil.According to Pagels, Augustines dark vision of a
human nature ravaged by original sin and overrun by lust for power rules out uncritical adulation
and qualifies his endorsement of imperial rule(118). Interestingly, though, Christians believe
that the power and authority to control human sinfulness is, under imperial rule, given to merely
another fallen and sinful human.

3) In using the theories of

Peter Brown of the saints or
ascetics as revered patrons
for their followers as
discussed by Gerard Vallee,
please explain the life of Mary
of Egypt as a powerful symbol
of Christian asceticism.
(STUDY WELL)
In using the theories of Peter Brown of the saints or ascetics as revered
patrons for their followers as discussed by Gerard Vallee, please explain
the life ofMary of Egypt as a powerful symbol of Christian asceticism.
The story of Mary of Egypt is popular in medieval Europe and eastern
Mediterranean lands with multiple references in Greek manuscripts and
hymnography. Mary is commemorated by the Orthodox Church of 1 April
and the fifth Sunday of Lent. Mary of Egypt, is the story of a woman who
transformed herself under the guidance of God and reached the status of
a saint from that of a harlot. She was a prostitute from Alexandria who
achieved righteousness and saintliness through repentance and
observing asceticism. Mary of Egypt is a powerful symbol of Christian
asceticism in spite of her earlier life being spent in acts including physical
pleasure and licentious activities.
The story of Mary's journey from being a harlot with insatiable sexual
appetite to a holy ascetic woman has been described in the vita
attributed to Sophronios. It is mostly a firstperson account of Mary's
sinful life and her conversion to the life of devout holiness. Mary left her
parent's home at a tender age to twelve and went to Alexandria, the
culturaland commercial centre. She stayed for seventeen years as a
harlot in Alexandria. At twenty-nine years of age she made an
instantaneous decision to go to Jerusalem with a group of Libyan and
Egyptian men. In order to attend the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy

Cross, she pleasured those men in lieu of sexual favors. Upon reaching
Jerusalem she underwent a mystical experience at Goglotha which led
her to repent her sins and adopt the asceticism as the way of life. Guided
by the mystical calling, she crossed the river Jordan with a meager supply
of three loaves of bread and for forty-seven years she survived on that
bread, in the desert alone, repenting her sins. She finally met a monk,
Zosimas who heard her tale. Zosimas revisited her after a year on
Maunday Thursday to give her the holy Eucharist. When he to went meet
her the third time in the followingyear, he found her dead and buried her
in the desert with the assistance of a lion.
Mary of Egypt is regarded as a powerful symbol of Christian asceticism
and her asceticism inspired even a devout monk, Zosimas, who was
famous for his ascetic practices. Zosimas was known for having pursued
every kind of ascetic practice and entirely having mastered selfdiscipline. He not only followed the rules but also devised his own ways
to subdue the esh to spirit. Other monks sought out his help to be
moldedand trained in self- discipline. He often wondered if there was a
monk who could teach him anything new or surpassed him in ascetic
practice or spiritual contemplation. When Zosimas encountered Mary in
the desert, he realized that her spirituality far outranked his own and she
had the gift of foresightedness since she had called him by name even
though they had never met before. Thus, he asked for her blessings
despite the fact that ocially he was the priest. Mary's practice of ascetic
ways had surpassed those of Zosimas. She had survived in the barren
desert for forty-seven years on three loaves of bread and without any
water. The fact that she had tasted good food and wine for many years
when she was a harlot made her self control even more inspiring and
dicult. Besides yearning for meat and wine, her body was also used to
physical pleasures. She controlled her yearnings by praying to Mother of
God, shedding tears and beating her breasts with her hand.
Mary of Egypt and her observance of ascetic lifestyle is an inspiration for
all those who feel that their sins have crossed all limits and they can
never get redemption or forgiveness for their sinful deeds.
Mary had erred and chosen to be a harlot for seventeen years of her own
freewill. Still God forgave her when she realized her mistakes and showed
real desire to enter the Church. One moment she was unable to enter the
Church and as soon as she repented God allowed her to enter. This shows
that no deed or mistakes are grievous enough to not to be forgiven by
God if the sinner repents from heart. Even Mary would have felt thather
sins were grave and unforgiveable but God decided to give her a chance
to repent and connect with spirituality. The level of asceticism followed
by her in the desert was her own choice and it helped her to gain a level
of spirituality that surpassed the spirituality of the most disciplined

monk. She gained the gift to foresee the future and to walk on water.
Mary of Egypt, a prostitute, who became a holy woman through
repentance and ascetic solitary life oers hope to every Christian that if
such a sinful andlicentious woman could find forgiveness, then ordinary
sinners can also find salvation.

In using the theories of Peter Brown of the saints or ascetics as revered patrons for their
followers as discussed by Gerard Vallee, please explain the life of Mary of Egypt as a powerful
symbol of Christian asceticism.
Ascetism = A way of life based on rigorous self-denial and aiming to achieve holiness. It is
characteristic of monasticism
one can practice asceticism without practicing monasticism
I recommend you start with presenting and discussing Brown's theories about the saints or
ascetics as revered patrons for their followers Then use the story of Mary of Egypt as an
application of those theories. Do NOT present the life of Mary in too much detail (which is a
tendency many students have because the life is quite fascinating). Just look in her Life for
elements that are relevant for the theories of Peter Brown. There are thus two parts to the answer:
one about Brown, the second about Mary with an eye to Brown.
Students need to read both the Vallee chapter (ch. 7 The Practice of Christian life) and the Life

of Mary of Egypt very carefully, as well as listen to my audio commentaries. Brown's theories
are explained on pp. 133-135 in Vallee.
You can find info about the Life of Mary of Egypt in Lesson 10, in the Readings section. You
will information in the teachers descriptive audio recording and a pdf file "Chapter 3: The Life
of St. Mary of Egypt."
I wanted to know if its okay to have separate paragraphs for the 4 stages of the controversy or
does it have to be in one big paragraph? Separate paragraphs will probably work better, since you
can more easily identify the 4 stages of the controversy.

4) Explain the Gnosticism

contained in the Gospel of
Judas placing it in the context
of when it was produced.
Explain the Gnosticism contained in the Gospel of Judas placing it in the context of when it was produced.
(Lesson 5)

The Gospel of Judas was written in the 2nd century by Judas Iscariot, while he was in prison. This
gospel that was originally written in Greek, was and still is considered apocryphal, which
means false. However, the version we have access to today, is only a 5th-century translation of
the original 2nd-century Greek text. The first translation was in 2006.
Gnosticism was an important religious current, in the 2nd century. Gnosticism comes from the
word Gnosis, meaning knowledge and this knowledge refers to the spiritual knowledge that
comes from outside of this world and therefore has to be transmitted to the chosen ones (in this
case the Gnostics) by a redeemer, who is Jesus. Some of the Gnostics believed that Jesus was not
made from flesh and blood, some others believed that the divinity only entered his body after
his baptism. Gnosticism had a different opinion about the creation of the human world. For them,
the divine world is good, but the physical world is evil. The mother of the human world is a
feminine divine being, Sophia, which means wisdom. It was believed that every human has
this divine spark in them, thus salvation can only be achieved through the knowledge. Thus,
the Gnostics were a group that practiced their cult in secret, because the mainstream church was
not in approval of their beliefs and they were considered heresies (people who have derived
beliefs from the orthodox beliefs).
Although, in the Gospel of Judas, the Sethian type of Gnosticism was used. This one is very
similar with the mainstream Gnosticism, but differs in terms. For example, Sophia, the mother of
the physical world, was called Barbelo.
In the Gospel of Judas, Sethian Gnosticism was mainly present. For instance, Jesus sais to Judas
in one of the passages that he knows who Judas is, [he is] from the immortal realm of Barbelo
(Kasser 2008). Here Jesus used a term that only Sethian Gnostics would use. Also, Jesus
mentions Sophia in the gospel, which demonstrates the use of Gnosticism. Finally, there is a lot
of talk about the mysteries from above, suggesting here the divine knowledge that Jesus wants
to share with Judas.
One of the most important opponents of Gnosticism is Irenaeus of Lyon, the Bishop of Lyon. His
main work was Against the Heresies, in 180, where he summarizes the Gnostic doctrine. As he
was a leading Christian theologian in the 2nd century, he was greatly influential, that is why his
opinion against the Gnostics was embraced by the rest of the Christian community. During his
life he also advanced the canonization of the scripture.
It was very important for orthodoxy that a scripture is canonic. This means that it has to be
ancient, apostolic, catholic, orthodox, and inspired by God.

As the Gospel of Judas was controversial to canonicity, it had been hidden among with other
Gnostic scriptures in a cave in Middle Egypt, to be discovered only in the 1970s.
Explain the Gnosticism contained in the Gospel of Judas placing it in the context of when it was
produced.
Gnosticism was a religious movement that presented major challenges to Christianity in
the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The Gnostics believed that they had a secret knowledge about God,
the
universe, and the kingdom. This secret knowledge was only accessible to the Gnostics and was
an intuition and spiritual knowledge, not a scientific knowledge. The Gnostics believed they
inherited a divine spark from God that enabled them to obtain and deeper comprehend this
knowledge and have access to a better interpretation of scripture. They also had the full
knowledge of the secrets of salvation. This knowledge about God, the universe, and the kingdom
is brought from the outside world from a redeemer. For Christian Gnostics, Christ was that
redeemer.
The Gnosticism contained in the Gospel of Judas is Sethian Gnosticism. The
explanations and reflections about this type of Gnosticism contained in the Gospel of Judas is
what makes the Gospel so interesting and important. The Gospel of Judas is the most important
discovery of Gnosticism. The Sethian Gnostics were believed to be descendants of Seth, who
was the third son of Adam. Seth was believed to be a revealer and savior who inherited a secret
revelation of the world, God, and the kingdom of heaven.
Throughout the Gospel of Judas, there are many cues that show the reader that it is a
Gnostic text. First, it is important to understand that the Gospel was not written by Judas, but
rather in Gnostic circles in the mid to late 2nd century. Christianity was still being developed at
the
time, and the movement of Gnosticism developed because they wanted to challenge the
teachings about Jesus of proto-orthodox Christianity. Gnosticism appeared in many forms;
different teachers did not agree with each other, causing a lack of cohesion all the same, it
presented a major challenge to Christianity.
Through the discovery and translation of the Gospel of Judas in the early 21st century, the
character of Judas was first presented as a good person, in opposition to the original views of
Judas in the Bible. Later, with a more detailed translation, it was seen that Judas was not as
good as perceived through the original translation of the text.
In the Gospel of Judas, there are many Gnostic characteristics that lead us to believe that
it is a Gnostic text. First, Jesus is presented as a Gnostic figure who brings secret knowledge to
the world. This information that he shares is not completely understood by his 12 disciples, but
Judas shows that he believes he understands more than the others of what he must do. The idea
of the Gnostic Jesus is not the same as the Catholic Jesus, as they believed that he was not a
supreme God, but rather an individual who brings important knowledge to the people about their
being; that is, they are from a different realm and therefore have a spark of divinity that needs to
be released in order to be able to go back to the spiritual realm, where they came from.
Therefore, Jesus is not seen as supremacy, but rather as the Divine Redeemer a non-human
who entered the body of a man in order to share his salvific knowledge. He left the body of Jesus

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